Abstract
The effects of UV exposure on physico-chemical properties of polymer membranes were studied in this paper. The membranes having different surface energy, resilience and initial modulus of elasticity were obtained from a series of blends of poly (hydroxy-urethane) and poly (vinyl alcohol). UV treatments in air, at room temperature, decrease the water contact angles as a result of higher surface energies of the polymer membranes. Some important modifications appear in ATR-FTIR spectra. The mechanical properties of the untreated polymer films are better than of the UV treated samples. Short-term UV irradiations lead to a photo stabilization effect of polymer surface. Bulk chemical changes are induced through photo oxidation and photo degradation processes for long-term UV irradiation. Keywords: UV treatment, photo oxidation, photo degradation, photo stabilization resilience